Valve-operating device for fluid-conduits.



v E. s. CLARK. VALVE OPERATING DEVICE FOR FLUID CONDUITS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 2, I915.

' Patented July 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I ellilrll 1- ||5 E. S. CLARK.

I VALVE OPERATING DEVICE FOR FLUID CONDUITS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 2, I915.

2 II [2, 1 L fl Z7 7 I Z3 2 I 0 9 1 1/ 4 o O O O O 4 o 6940 9 Q A V o 02 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EDWARD S. CLARK, 0F BOSTON,:MASSACH'US'ETTS.

lTALVE-OPERATING DEVICE FOR FLUID-CONDUITS. I

earner.

speciflcatiers Patent. Patented July 25, 1916,,

Application filed lanuary z, 1915. Serial No. 287.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, EDWARD S. CLARK, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county ofSufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and.

useful Improvements in Valve-Operating Devices for Fluid-Conduits, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to valve operating devices forfluid conduits; andits objects are to reduce the damage due to breaks and to conserve thesupply of fluid, to speedily regulate the volume'of fluid, to facilitatethe testing of the gates used for opening and closing the conduit, toopen and close said gates with the rapidity required in emergencies, toutilize and apply a source of power other than manual means, to make thedevice adjustable and quickly available for practical use, to stop theoperation of the device automatically when the gates are fully open orclosed, and to produce a device which is simple and economical inconstruction and in other ways eflective in the relation for which it isdesigned.

At the present time it is the general custom in the great cities to usefor opening and closing large water or gas mains at points'of the linewhere it is deemed desirable, gate valves of heavy construction. In thecase of water mains these are ordinarily thirty-six inches in diameter,and are closed by a gate wrench which requires about three hundredturnsthereof and the work of four men laboring continuously for aboutfortyfive minutes for its efiective operation. Such labor is verysevere, and where it is necessary, as often occurs, to close severalgates, the efficiency of the men becomes greatly reduced with eachsuccessive. gate, and if the number of gates is further increased, themen become exhausted and must be given a period of rest perhaps at atime when delay may mean the loss of life or property. This will bereadily appreciated if it be borne in mind that in the case of acomplete break the escape of the water from a large main would be in thevicinity of fifty thousand gallons a minute, all of which must find someoutlet to the damage of property owners in the vicinity. .Then againin'case of fire, it becomes necessary to act promptly with reference tothe gates not only to prevent the waste-of water in the fire districtthrough breaks where it is diverted from effective use, but also toallow the full head of the water to be utilized where it is. mostneeded.

My Invention primarilyv consists in mounting a universal wrench socket,which is made self adjusting, upon a motor vehole, and, to operativelyconnect to its source of motive power, mechanism for turning the saidwrench socket.

My invention further consists in the various improvements andnovel'arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully set forth orllustrated in the drawing and referred to in the claims.

Through the use of my invention in connection with a motor truck underthe conditions of actual use, I have found that the work of'closing thegate valves which for ing in whichsimilar numerals of designation referto similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a plan of the frame of the chassis showing the casing of myimproved Wrench socket and its relation to the main shaft; Fig. 2 is aside elevation of a motor truck to which the turning mechanism of myimproved Wrench socket is secured; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of themechanism and connections adjacent to the main shaft; Fig. 4 is a planview of the turning mechanism shown partly in section with the up-.

per hemisphere of the casingof the wrench socket removed; Fig. 5 is avertical section on line 4-4015 the view shown in Fig. 4, looking in thedirection of the arrows, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the universaljoint at the lower end ofmy wrench.

Referring to the drawing: Upon the chassis frame 7 of the motor truck 8,I

mount in any suitable manner the casings 9 and 10 containing themechanism for turning the wrench 11, the casing 9 being preferablysecured to the said frame by means of the brackets 47 and 48, and thecasing 10 inclosing a portion of the driving mechanism connected withthemain shaft 50,. and being preferably secured to said frame by thearms 14 and rigidly connected to the special construction transmissioncasing 51 bylugs 49-orother suitable means. The portion of the driving Imechanism within the casing 10 is made'of to meet with the requirementsof my invention. (See Fig. 3.) To thesquare tapering end 12 of the shaft25 is secured the socket 15 of the rectangular insert 16, which isshaped to register and r to revolve therewlth. lnclosing the wall ofsaid socket 15 is the collar 17 freely rotating on the ball bearings 18and held in operative position by suitable means and bearing the bevelgear 19 which is bolted there- .to. The inner portion of the collar 17is constructed in the form of a gear or clutch 20 shaped to engage withthe clutch 21, which slides longitudinally upon the rectangularinsert'lfi and rotates therewith. At

the other end of the said insert 16 are the ball bearings 22' installedwithin the clutch or gear 23 ournaled in the ball bearings24 secured tothemain frame, and which clutch 23 is integral and rotates with thesquare tapering end 13 which is normally affixed to the main shaft inthe rearward part of the truck. As will be well understood by personsacquainted-with the art, the movement of the clutch-16 well to the leftwill cause engagement and rotation of, the bevel gear 19, while themovement of said clutch well to the right causes the rotation of'thesaid shaft 50.

' Meshing with the bevel gear 19 is the bevel gear 26 mounted upon oneend' of the countershaftv 28 which is journaled in the ball bearings 27mounted-upon the casing 10. I The remainingportion of said countershaft28 carries the worm 29 and is journaled 1n the ball bearings 30 and 30mounted within and upon thehousing32, the ball bearin'gs 31 similarlymounted serving to take-up the end thrust of said countershaft.Preferably the extreme end 52 of said portion of said countershaft ismade square in order to afiord an opportunity for the applicationand'use of ahand wrench if desired. Meshing with said worm 29 is theworm gear 33 which is bolted to the two parts of the sleeve '34 mountedwithin'the casing 9 and rotating uponball bearings 35. Within the sleeve34 is the circular frame 36 having at opposite parts of itscircumference the bearings 38,

which engage with the trunnions 37 firmly secured to the inner portionsof said sleeve.

v the socket 41; the object of which is to allow considerable play ofthewrench 11, and to permit the same to adjust itselfautomatimeter? cally,to varying conditions. In order to revent the escape of the lubricatingoil used or the bearings within the casing 9, l preferably employ thescrew ring 53 which is threaded to engage with the lowest part of thelower hemispheres of said casing, and to hold the packing in place.

Preferably the casing 9 is constructed of hemispheres with wide flangesas shown bolted together at the line of juncture. in order to preventany strain or breakage of machinery, I prefer to construct the lowerpart of my improved wrench, containing the jaw 44, with a universaljoint 45 provided with a pin 43 of copper, soft iron or other materialof a torsional strength somewhat less than the teeth of the gears of myturning mechanism above despribed (see Fig. 6), so that if .by accidentthe operation is pro tracted after the gate has been fully opened orclosed the pin 43 will break and the fun ther application of the powerto the gate will be discontinued. Normally when the wrench is not inuse, it is carried in the position shown in Fig. 2, a clamp 46 or anyother suitable means being employed for suspending the same.

As is obvious, my device may be adapted and applied for operating anygate, door, valve, plug or other means for stopping the passage ofsteam, illuminating gas, oil, water or other fluid through a conduit orother aperture, and by the term wrench valve as used in the claims, Idesire to be understood as including within its scope and meaning anysuch gate, door, valve, plug or other means employed for such purposeand of such construction as to be susceptible of being actuated throughthe application of a wrench of the general character above set forth anddescribed.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The motor truck shown inFig. 2 is driven into such position as to bring the wrench socketdirectly over the man hole of the gas or water gatewhich it is desiredto open or close; the'man hole cover is removed, and the wrench isslipped through the said socket andbrought into engagement with thenuton the gate gearbelow. The clutch 21 is then moved into engagement withthe clutch 20 and the bevel gear -19 is caused to rotate, and throughthe transmission gears above described, to turn the wrench socket 41 andthe wrench 11 therein, thereby turning the said nut and opening orclosing the gate as desired. Care should preferably be taken, however,that the operation does not proceed sofar as to go beyond the completeopening 'or closing of the gate so as to cause the breaking of the pin43; and in practice with unskilled workmen I prefer to have them stopsomewhat short of this point and to leave the last few turns to beaccomplished by a hand wrench ap-' Y 1 number required to close any typeof gate being generally known.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. A device for opening and closing wrench valves, consisting of avehicle, an adjustable wrench carried thereon, mechanism for turningsaid wrench secured to said vehicle, and means of propulsion carried bysaid vehicle and operatively connected to drive the said wrenchmechanism.

2. A device for opening and closing wrench valves, consisting of avehicle, a portable sliding wrench. carried thereon, mechanism forturning said wrench secured to said vehicle, and means of propulsioncarried by said vehicle and operatively connected to drive said wrenchturning mechanism.

3. A device for turning the polygonal stem of wrench valves, consistingof a vehicle, a portable wrench bar one end of which is shaped to engagewith said stem and which is carried by said vehicle, mechanism forturning said wrench bar secured to said vehicle, and means of propulsioncarried by said vehicle and operatively connected to drive said wrenchturning mechanism.

4. A device for opening and closing wrench valves-consisting of a motorvehicle, an adjustable wrench and wrench socket therefor mounted uponsaid vehicle, mecha nismsecured to said vehicle for turning said socket,said mechanism being operatively connected with the motive power of saivehicle.

5. A device for opening and closing wrench valves, consisting of a motorvehicle, a portable sliding wrench carried by said vehicle andadjustableto and from the wrench turning the said wrench and operatively connectedwith and driven mechanism of said vehicle.

6. A device for. turning the stem of wrench valves, consisting of amotor vehicle a portable sliding wrench carried by said vehicle, auniversal jaw carried by said wrench and shaped to engage with saidstem, mechanism secured to said vehicle for turning said wrench andoperatively connected with and driven by the motive power means of saidvehicle. v

by the motive 7. A device for turning the stem of wrench valves,consisting of a motor vehicle, a portable sliding wrench carried by saidvehicle andadjustable to and'from the stem of the wrench valve, auniversal jaw carried'by said wrench and shaped to engage with saidstem, mechanism secured to said vehicle for turning said wrench'andoperatively connected with and driven by the motive power means of saidvehicle.

8. A device for opening and closing wrenchvalves consistingof a motorVehicle, a universal wrench socket secured to said vehicle, a verticallysliding wrench engaging with said socket, and mechanism for turning saidwrench socket operatively connected with the motive power of saidvehicle.

9. A device for opening and closing wrench valves consisting of a motorvehicle,

a universal-wrench socketsecured to saidvehicle, a vertically slidingwrench engaging with said socket, a universal jaw secured to the end ofsaid wrench, and mechanism for turning said wrench socket operativelyconnected with the motive power of said vehicle.

10. A device for opening and closing wrench valves for water and gasmains consisting of a motor vehicle, a universal wrench socket securedto said vehicle, a vertically sliding wrench engaging with said socket,a universal jaw secured to the end of said wrench, and mechanism for.turning said wrench socket operatively connected with the motive'powerof said vehicle, the said jaw being secured as aforesaid by a pin.

of less strength than that of said mechanism.

shaft, a universal wrench socket secured to said vehicle, a worm andworm gear for turning said socket and a bevel gear mount- ,ed upon acounter shaft carrying saidworm and meshing with a bevelgear mountedupon said driving shaft.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses, this 30th day of January, 1914.

Y EDWARD S. CLARK. Witnesses:

' HERBERT MANN CHAsn,

A. BARR CoMs'rocK.

sisting of a motor vehicle having adriving v valve, mechanism securedtosaid vehicle for 1

